The Heart of the Sphinx

Chapter 12

Gabriella was sitting in her home on the couch watching the series of Lucifer on Netflix while she was running on the treadmill and was laughing at the banter between the Devil and Chloe Decker and also not failing to look at the hot body of this handsome man who was really sinful than sin itself. She stopped the treadmill after she had finished running five miles and then was drinking a gulp of water from the bottle kept on the coffee table when the doorbell rang. Immediately her eyes went to the clock on the wall and saw that it was eight fifteen. Very strange, very strange indeed. She did not have any friends as per say and it was not Friday, so it would be really strange to have pizza delivered. She was sweating profusely and was smelling pretty bad.

Gabriella went to the door and opened it only to find that Hugh Linglithgow was standing outside the door and he had packets of food in his hand which he held up as peace offering.

“I was not sure that you would like to eat something from the outside seeing that you are a health fanatic, so I brought you all fresh and healthy food,” said Hugh as he grinned at her.

“You are such an insufferable man,” said Gabriella as she opened the chain of her door and let him enter.

Hugh entered the room and found that she was wearing a grey tank top and track pants. The top was soaked, which meant that she was working out and he looked at the screen and found that Tom Ellis was looking at someone with his devil eyes and smiled.

“So I see that you are a fan of Lucifer too?” asked Hugh as he came in and then placed the packets of food on the dining table.

“Yeah, I don’t know anyone else who is,” said Gabriella as she showed him in the kitchen where the crockery and the cutlery was.

“Well you would, seeing that you would be really interested in communicating with people other than me and your boss and the ones who are forced to work with you,” said Hugh as he took out the plates from the cup-board and looked at the other side of the sink to find a cloth to rub them off.

“Did you come to my house in order to infuriate me and to piss me off?” asked Gabriella fuming.

“Come Gabby, you are always pissed off and always fuming. I am the only one who is trying to be friends with you and you are always standing there or are around me with the mental image that you want to shoot me and you would if you could. Really!! I have absolutely no idea at all what did I do to keep you like this so much,” said Hugh as he opened the packets. Gabriella could not reply for some time. He had called her Gabby. And only her dad used to call her that.

She felt that it would be better if she did not say anything. Hugh had captured her wishes and what she wanted to do so badly that she was spell bound at the way he said the words to her without any compassion. This must be what she sounded like when she spoke to people.

“I am going to take a shower. And please don’t start watching until I come back.. I don’t want to miss what happens next,” said Gabriella as she went inside her room and Hugh smiled at her back.  He had a strange attraction towards this woman. Something must have happened earlier with someone which was the reason that she had become so damn messed up. She always behaved like a woman who was waiting for someone to screw up and she was going to unleash her wrath on them.

But undoubtedly she was a creature who had curves and a rack which was more than enough to tempt a saint. Too bad that she was not interested in him in any manner because this was one woman who could have brought him out of his self-imposed exile and brought him back to the scene again. He poured the salad on the plate and the grilled chicken on the other side. He had seen her ordering the same food a few days earlier and understood that she was on diet and cared a lot about her own health. He did not want to be on her bad side by making her eat something she did not want to eat.

“Gabby I am done serving. Come out soon or I am gonna play the episode,” said Hugh as he could hear the closet door opening and he kept the plates on the coffee table. He was not a very fan of healthy eating and by the grace of god he did not gain weight as well. He would not say that he was the man with a hot body which would make women drool over him but he was definitely no slouch either. He was tall, lean and piercing blue eyes with an intelligent smile. And he worked out every day, so he did not mind eating fries or double milkshake or something else which would not be preferred by women on diet.

“If you do that, you are not going home on your feet again. You are going to the morgue in a body bag and I am not kidding about that,” said Gabriella from inside when Hugh as looking around the room and he found an old picture in a frame behind the plants and things on the bookshelf. There were two pictures side by side. One in which there was a young girl wearing a gown and standing with a sash and a tiara on her head with a bouquet of flowers.

Holy s**t!!! Gabriella was a pageant girl…of everything that he would have thought about her and imagined, this was something that he would have never imagined.

“You better not have started eating without me,’ said Gabriella as she came in the room and found Hugh standing at the book case with the picture in hand and smiled at her.

“You look stunning in this picture Gabriella,” he said and his eyes spoke that he was absolutely genuine.

“You should not have seen that. That is something no one should come to know about me. That is a life which is not me anymore. I am not that girl in the gown anymore as well Hugh. So keep that and come back here,” said Gabriella as she took the television remote and played the pause button to start again.

“This is a part of your life that you have hidden away from everyone and I am curious to know why,” said Hugh as he kept the picture back in the shelf and sat down back.

“I am really not inclined to give you the details about my personal life and definitely not the one where I was a beauty queen back in time. I am not the person which I was back then and I am certainly not going back in time and reminiscing the point of my life where I had no self-esteem at all,’ said Gabriella as she took the plate of chicken and then start eating it. She moaned as she chewed on the piece of meat and said,” This is the best steak I had in the last week Hugh. Just because of this I am going to forgive all that nonsense that you have been saying and doing. Now come back here and please let me enjoy my serial.”

“Well that is only good if you say that you will allow me to take back a few items to the museum for checking out their age. I am not being able to do thee carbon dating in this small back room. And I am really not sure with this level of interference from your department how much longer we will be able to stop them from coming to know the details as well,” said Hugh as he sat down and opened his own packet of food and then took the fork and started eating.

“What are you having?” asked Gabriella as she looked at him.

“I am having mixed scezwan noodles and pan fried pork. There are fries as well if you wanna have some,” said Hugh as he grinned at her.

“You are nothing short of the devil you know?” asked Gabriella as she eyed the bag of fries longingly as she stuffed lettuce in her mouth.

“There is no devilry here. I know that I want to eat some, so I brought. Now you may or may not share with me that is entirely on you. But tell me where are you standing on the taking back things for checking out now?” asked Hugh again.

“Well you are persistent, I am going to give you that for sure,” said Gabby as she snatched away the fries.